Orchid seeds sowing and potting guide

Sowing Orchid Seed:
Growing orchid from seed is the most rewarding, but it will be another five years or so before you see the results of a new flowering orchid, so you will need to be patient.
Step by step guide;
1. pour a small quantity of the seeds into the sterilizing solution.
2. a screw-top jar containing sterilized jelly should be ready to receive the sterilized seed from the test tube.
3. using a platinum wire loop, carefully spread the seed across the surface of the jelly. Reseal the jar.
4. Put the jar there where the temperature can be carefully controlled, under special fluorescent tubes or such other.
5. Within a few days the first signs of life appear as the seed, lying on the surface of the jar turns green.
6. After a few week the seed masses swell into mounds of bright green protocorms. Each one is a individual plant.
7. Within several months, each protocorm will have produced a tiny leaf from the top and a root from the base.
8. The young plants with distinguishable leaves, will grow vigorously on a different medium.


Potting up orchid seedlings:
1. Using a wire hook, remove the seedlings and the agar into the bowl of water. Wear gloves as the water contains a fungicide.
2. Remove the plants, one at a time making sure that they are clean and free from jelly.
3. Grade the seedlings into sizes and discard the smallest and any large misshapen ones.The large ones can be coarse and may produce ugly flowers.
4. Use a compost perhaps of fine bark and perlite, and pot up each seedling into a segregated tray. Hold a plant  by the tip of the leaf and pour the compost in with the other hand. It is not necessary to firm the plant down.
5. The segregation method ensures that if one plant damps off it is not likely to affect its neighbours.
6. When the tray is full label with a stock number or name and the date of potting. Yong seedlings placed in warm place and kept evenly moist will grow quickly.
7. Six to nine months later the tray will be full of vigorous young plants which are now ready for potting now.
8. The advantage of segregated trays is that when the plant is ready for potting into a large pot there is less disturbance of the rootball when it is removed.
9. Damping off often takes place. The aftercare of orchids certainly through the first 12 months as well as through winter can be a trying time for a grower.

Orchid's caring - daily feeding and watering

In order to grow orchids successfully, you need to create an environment that imitates their native habits, which mean taking humidity, temperature and light into consideration, as well as their feeding and resting needs.

Feeding: 

There was a time when the feeding of orchids was frowned upon. But now as the nutritional needs of orchids have better understood and modern inorganic compost materials have increased, feeding orchids has become scientifically based. Orchids can be fed at all ages, from young seedlings and propagation to adult plants. Feed only healthy plants, as they have the ability to absorb and convert the chemicals. Do not feed plants that are sick or have lost their roots.

How to feed:

As a general guide apply feed added to the water at every second or third watering. By using plain water in between the feeds, any leftover chemicals in the compost will be washed through, avoiding the build-up of any residue. Feed very sparingly during the winter and more liberally in summer, when there is better light and higher temperatures to balance the extra nutrients being supplied.
 Fertilizers: Fertilizers consisted of horn and bone-meal powder mixed with the compost(at early stage) and another products like cow-tea and ammonia were also used at later stage.

Watering: 

Watering is the greatest cause of uncertainty among orchid growers, and whether a plant is ready for water or not is always under debate. As a general rule, water a typical orchid once or twice a week in the growing season and once every two or three weeks while it is resting. commence watering when new growth shows in the spring.
Keep plants evenly moist while they are growing. Always remember, limp foliage may indicate under-watering or even over-watering.

Methods of watering: 

1. Water orchids indoor regularly from the rim of the pot, using a spouted watering can. Thoroughly soak the compost right through.
2. Orchid such as Asconopsis, has been allowed to become dry for a considerable time, dip it in a bucket of water and allow it to soak for 10 minutes to wet the compost thoroughly.
3. Orchid that grow on bark in a greenhouse should be dipped in a bucket of water at least once a week and sprayed daily.

Grow Your Orchid Indoor and Outdoor

Orchids are grown for the astonishing beauty and variety of their flowers. The most beautiful are the gorgeous South American cattleyas, rosy-purple and mauve blooms; these are the aristocrats of the orchid world. Others have an altogether different appeal; these are the strangely weird, sometimes evil-smelling species, which are found among the bulbophyllums in particular.

Orchids can charm and tantalize, fascinate and frustrate. They provide endless satisfaction and they are lifelong plants. Daily spraying, weekly watering and feeding, and constant attention to growing requirements, such as light, warmth and your orchid's general comfort, is a rewarding process.

Types of Orchid

There are a number of different types of orchid which are classified according to the way they live and survive ,whether they are supported by trees or rocks or grow in the ground. 
1. EPIPHYTES: Those orchids that have evolved to live upon trees are called epiphytes.

2. TERRESTRIALS: These orchids grow in the ground, and there is hardly any area where terrestrial orchids have not adapted to grow. 

3. LITHOPHYTES: Performing a balancing act somewhere between the epiphytes inhabiting the trees and the terrestrial in the soil are lithophytes. 



Some Orchids suitable for growing indoor:

Brassia verrucosa, Coelogyne cristata, Cymbidiums(small growing), Dendrobium infundibulum, Laelia anceps, Lycaste aromatica, Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum, Oncidium ornithorhynchum, Paphiopedilums, Phalaenopsis, Pleiones, Prosthechea radiata.

Some Orchids suitable for growing in a conservatory: 

Anguloa clowesii, Angulocaste hybrids, Brassia verrucosa, Cattleyas plus allied genera, Coelogyne cristata, Cymbidiums(small growing & larger growing), Dendrobium infundibulum, Laelia anceps, Lycaste aromatica, Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum, Oncidium ornithorhynchum, Paphiopedilums, Phalaenopsis, Pleiones, Prosthechea radiata.

Orychophragmus violaceus February Orchid Gandergoose

SPECIFICATION OF GANDER GOOSE

Size: Medium

Style: Perennial

Climate: Subtropics

Cultivating Difficulty Degree: Very Easy

Full-bloom Period: Spring

Germination temperature: 12-20 C
Growth Temperature: 10-30 C
Germination: There are two types of germination one is Micro seed germination and the other is Mini seed germination.

How to germinate micro seed:  Use a flat seedling tray .and its deep ill be 1.5 to 2 inches deep. Make sure you have plenty of holes in it for good water drainage. Take equal quantity of sand, soil and vermicompost. Then we will mix all three material into one container. Thereafter we will spread our seeds on the mixture. As we know very well that our seeds are so small that's why we can spread water very lightly and carefully on the seed.Make sure that the water must be mixed with diluted fungicide powder.It is very important to notice to follow that the seeds will not to go very deep inside the mixture by spraying water on the seed if it happens then the fertilization of the seeds become difficult.Minimum warm, above 60ºF (15.5ºC), is needed inside the container and it should be placed in the sunny area.After that, the whole thing should be covered with a poly bag and after 21 days later the plastic can be removed.

How to germinate mini seed

Use a flat tray container about 10 inches by 15 inches (biggest or smaller your choice) 1.5 to 2 inches deep. Make sure you have plenty of holes in it for good water drainage.Take equal quantity of sand, soil and vermicompost. Put the seedling mix you prepared up to almost top leaving about 0.5 inches space. As the seeds are perfect in size now we can put the seeds over it by 1/3 after that cover the seeds with seedling mix only about 0.5 cm (half a centimeter) .water it by watering can. place the container in a semi shaded place. Sprinkle diluted fungicide water (2gm in 1-litre water) after sowing the seeds.We have to care about putting the seed because seeds will not go deep into the mixture.

GERMINATION CARE
After the seedlings germinate, they can relocate to a sunny south- or west-facing window. The soil is kept moist at all times, but not allowed to get soggy. Once the seedlings have three true leaves, they are fed every two weeks with a liquid houseplant fertilizer. Pinching out the growth tips isn't necessary.



Step 1

Use a flat seedling tray and its deep will be 5 centimetres. Make sure you have plenty of holes in it for good water drainage.

Step 2

As the seeds are perfect in size then you can put the seeds over it by 1/3 after that cover the seeds with seedling mix only about 1 cm (one centimetre)


Step 3
 Take equal quantity of sand, soil and vermicompost. Then mix all the three ingredients into one container.

Step 4
  
Sprinkle diluted fungicide water (2gm in 1-litre water) after sowing the seeds.We have to care about putting the seed because seeds will not go deep into the mixture.


 Step 5
 Thereafter spreed the camellia seeds in the mixture. If your seeds are so tiny then you can spread water very lightly and carefully on the seed.Make sure that the water must be mixed with diluted fungicide powder.It is very important to notice to follow that the seeds will not to go very deep inside the mixture by speeding water on the seed if it happens then the fertilization of the seeds become difficult.


Step 6
 Cover tightly plastic polythene wrap over the pot to promote soil moisture retention and place it in a dimly light area of the house. Lift the plastic daily to check that the soil is moist. If not, lightly moisten it with a water-filled spray bottle before replacing the plastic. Expect germination within three to five days.

Step 7
Remove the plastic as soon as the seedlings emerge, and gradually move the pot to a brighter area over a two-week period so that at the end of that time they're acclimated to being in full sunlight.

Step 8
Minimum warm, above 60ºF (15.5ºC), is needed inside the container and it should be placed in the sunny area.After that, the whole thing should be covered with a poly bag and after 21 days later the plastic can be removed.


Step 9

Watering it daily as it is required.These seeds need full sunlight, so place the tray in a sunny area.